Poll: Voters don't like candidates who dodge climate change
Democratic candidates in New Mexico who avoid the topic of climate change could end up losing elections because of it, according to a new poll.
After the 2024 election, many Democrats stopped campaigning on global warming. But the 2035 Initiative at the University of California, Santa Barbara finds that the so-called “climate hush” is actually counterproductive.
Initiative Postdoctoral Researcher and Director of Polling & Survey Research Dr. Gabriel De Roche said people who support action to combat climate change are highly motivated to vote.
"We found that prioritizing climate change actually did increase the likelihood that a voter would vote for that candidate. That's among voters who are open to voting for Democrats," De Roche said.
Polling did not show the same results for committed Republican voters.
New Mexico's heavy economic reliance on the oil and gas industry creates a balancing act for candidates — especially among younger voters who largely support active state intervention around climate change, renewable energy transitions and environmental safeguards.
De Roche said voters are less supportive of policies that emphasize bans or fees to combat climate change, but they're enthusiastic about building out solar and wind.
"It's very important to communicate about the cost-saving potential of clean energy. That's going to be a key way to generate more support for building out this very important infrastructure," De Roche said.
Data show the top issues for voters of all stripes are affordability, the economy and health care, with climate change at 12th on voters’ list of priorities.
From 1980 to 2024, data show there were 38 confirmed weather or climate disaster events in New Mexico, with losses exceeding $1 billion each. The majority were due to drought events and wildfires, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
